The Two Kingdoms
by OrangeFeels
Summary: Sobek is caught in the middle of a thousand year war between the Light and the Darkness. After being send to explore the ruins of a recently abandoned temple, he finds something that will change the way he sees both sides of the war. The mystery of the temple continues to unfold, leading Sobek to different places and planets in an attempt to find the truth.
1. 1: Cult

Cult

* * *

I place my weapon on my back as my ship slowly descends down to the surface of the planet. The Sun would nearly blind my eyes, but my helmet blocks most of it out. I can feel a bead of sweat run down my cheek. It has to be at least one hundred and twenty degrees here. Luckily, my armor would keep out most of the heat and Ghost would keep my body temp regulated.

That's when I saw it. Several chimes and symbols leading towards the mouth of a cave. The whole thing was tinted orange from the sun. The place looked lived in recently, but abandoned without warning. Everything was just as the Cult had left it.

"That looks like the Station." Ghost chattered over my radio.

"Let me down here." I said.

"Sure thing." Ghost answered.

I felt my body lighten, and my vision fade. When my weight and vision returned, I turned around to face where I had just come from. Behind me, the Sun blazed indefinitely, and several otherworldly spires rose into the air. I faced forward again, and entered the Station.

I say station, it was more of a temple. I examined my surroundings. Many dishes with incense and different prayer charms lay scarred all over the tables and ground around me. Ghost spoke up over my radio.

"We're here to investigate what happened to the last crew sent here."

"The Cultists?" I asked.

"No, Hideo's first team."

"We're his second?"

"It looks like we're his backup." Ghost said.

"After all I've done for the Monarchy." I joked. I looked around, and listened to the chimes blowing in the warm wind. "Seeing anything unusual?" I asked Ghost.

"Well, I still can't get over the engraving behind that buckle on your robe." Ghost remarked.

"Still haven't dreamed of teeth..." I whispered. "Look."

I extended my hand towards a flight of stairs leading to something. "Down there." I moved slowly down the stairs to find a containment field blocking the doorway to a room. Behind the containment field, there sat a massive cache of glimmer. The most I had ever seen.

"Offerings to Osiris?" Ghost asked.

"Osiris is just a man," I remarked; "The Cultists know that."

We continued until we found another containment field. The temple stretched even further behind that one, but we decided not to crack it just yet. It was then I got a feeling. An extremely bad one, like someone was watching our every move. Judging us.

"You see anybody Ghost?" I asked him just to be sure.

"Nobody." he answered.

"Keep looking."

We continued down the corridor to find a transit ship. Used to arrive, obviously, but it hadn't seen much use since then.

"Heat sigs suggest the last time this was used was a few months ago."

"Humans?" I asked.

"Mostly."

The wind blew again, rustling the chimes. I reached for my pulse rifle on my back, but stopped.

"Ghost, scan again."

"Scan? For what?"

"Signs of life. We're not alone here." I said.

A few seconds passed. "Yes we are." Ghost insisted. I don't know what he was talking about. Whenever those chimes sounded, whenever I took a step I felt like someone was recording it.

"Are you sure we're alone here?" I asked.

"Yes."

"We're not."

"What do you mean?"

"Something is here."

"Something?"

"Something that made the Cultists disappear." I said. Everything here looked like someone had left in a hurry. Three days ago Executor Hideo had sent three agents here to research what had happened. Only two of them returned sane. The third wouldn't stop babbling about Osiris.

My vision blurred, and my legs felt weak. I heard a high pitched chime coming from somewhere I couldn't pinpoint.

"We need to go." I said.

"Your vitals just spiked-"

"I know. We need to leave now!" I said.

"We haven't found anything yet!" Ghost said. I hated to admit it, but he was right.

"Keep a lookout." I said.

We continued until we reached a large round, open room. In the middle of the room, a catwalk led out to a box. Atop the box sat an image of the Old Earth Goddess Isis. I had read up on her, and many other Gods and Goddesses before coming here.

"I'm opening it." I said. My ear caught the faintest drum beat in the distance just then. "You hear that?" I asked.

"No."

I continued to the chest, and pressed on a small eye sigil where the lock should have been. Gears turned, and the box opened. Inside I found three things. A golden sniper rifle, the likes of which I had never seen before. I gave it to Ghost for safe keeping. A stone tablet also lay inside the chest, with markings the likes of which I had never seen before. I gave that to Ghost, too. Lastly, there was a pair of gloves. They matched the sniper rifle. It looked to be woven from gold, and had an eye emblazoned on the shoulder. I put those on. The drum beat got louder.

"What do you think this tablet means?" Ghost asked.

"We need to go." I said again.

"Are you sure?"

"We'll be back. With help. We need to find whatever did this." I said.


	2. 2: City

City

* * *

My ship entered Earth's atmosphere, and I asked Ghost for diagnostics.

"You'll be at the Tower in forty-six seconds."

"Specific today, are we?" I asked.

"You asked." he retorted. I nodded, and grabbed the controls. My helmet rested at my side now in the empty passengers seat. My brown hair hung loosely over my eyes, and I brushed it away to get a better look at where we were going.

"Put me down Ghost." I said.

"Sure thing. I'll let Holiday know your ship is here." he said.

"Thank you."

I felt my weightless for a second while my vision blurred. When I opened my eyes, I was standing on the cobblestone floor of the Tower. I gazed out over the vaults, vendors, and other Guardians going about their business. A few looked at me. A few more whispered to each other. I was used to this. I turned around and looked over the City that I swore to protect.

I had died years and years ago, trying to flee the Russian Cosmodrome from those... Those things... I was in Russia to visit family. I still remember the things we had back then. TV, cellphones, movies, paper books and more. Now, those are kept behind lock and key. Only certain people had the authority to view "Old Earth" artifacts. When Ghost brought me back, it took me a few weeks to come to terms that it had been thousands of years since I had died. Everyone I knew was dead. All of my family, all of my friends. I made the best of it though.

I made a sharp left, and turned to go towards the Speaker's chambers. I arrived in Tower North, and took another left. The concrete walls turned red, and the smell of smoke filled the air.

"Sobek, you're back." someone said. Sobek. What a stupid name.

It wasn't my real name, but the ones the Warlocks had given to me upon my first arrival in the Tower.

"Hideo. What do you have for me?" I asked. The man who had spoken to me wore traditional New Monarchy robes, red and white. Hideo said something to his assistant next to him, handed her his tablet, and walked to me. He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"It should be I asking you that question. Your Ghost didn't send back much information." he said.

"Yeah... Sorry. Something happened."

"Visions?"

"Sort of." I said. Ghost materialized above my opposite shoulder.

"He reported sensing a presence." he remarked.

"Just like the fireteam before you." Hideo said, placing a hand on his chin.

"I'm sorry, Hideo. Something is happening there, something beyond the Vex that we are familiar with." I said.

"Maybe something along the lines of the Vault of Glass?" he asked. People around me stopped speaking, and perked up. I had been one of the six who had gone into the Vault of Glass after Kabr, a Titan. That was months ago. It was a grueling experience, and only four of us made it out. I'll get into that at a later date, when it's important.

"No, not like the Vault of Glass. The Vault, it disorients you. This place was different entirely." I siad.

"I'm sorry to hear that... We're going to be sending you back." Hideo said.

"What?" Ghost and I questioned at the same time.

"Not for some time, though! And when we do, we'll be sending you with another." he said. "Speaking of which, he'll be arriving from the Frontier tomorrow. We'll brief you both then." Hideo said.

"Who's this person I'm going with?" I asked.

"Exo. His name is Revenant-2."

"Revenant-2." I repeated.

"Until then, just relax. Go into the Crucible for a few rounds, go to your suite. Just take your mind off of things until tomorrow." Hideo said. He placed his hand back on my shoulder. "You'll be fine, Sobek."

"Thank you, Executor Hideo. Ghost?"

"On it."

My weight disappeared, and next thing I knew it, I was in my room.

It was simple. Perfectly square, with a red wooden floor. The New Monarchy seal was emblazoned on it. Across the room sat a large bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a monitor. To my right, a door led to the bathroom and to my left, a window peered out over the City. I removed my gear, Voidfang Vestments and all, and collapsed onto my bed in my black undersuit. My eyes felt heavy. Some Guardians didn't need sleep, they were undead. But sometimes, if you happened to be human, you needed it often. About once every 14 hours.

I turned my head to look out at the Traveler. When I had first seen it, I thought it was some kind of moon. It turns out, it was the defender of Earth, and of humanity. When I had awoke, I saw robots walking around and interacting as if they were people. I soon learned that they were no different from people, they thought, laughed, cried and slept just like us. There were families of Exos down in the city below, living like anybody else. But the Exos were an easy enough concept to grasp. The angelic, elf-like Awoken were different, though.

Before I had been to the Reef, I had seen other Guardians that looked human enough, but with white or purple skin and glowing, striking eyes. These were the Awoken. When I had arrived in the Reef for the first time, though, I saw how they operated, how they lived. Their Queen, Mara Sov, had spoken with me. Her brother, Prince Uldren, had hated me. Probably still does. But they helped me find the Black Garden and single-handedly destroy the Heart of Darkness. But that's neither here nor there. What was important is that I would be seeing a lot more of the Awoken in the coming year. After destroying Crota and his Netherworld, the Queen sent a distress call to the City. We headed out, not caring what the Speaker of the Vanguard said, in order to help the Queen and her people. Long story short, we're allies now. I know the Queen almost personally, and she strikes me as the perfect Awoken. Strong, wise, sophisticated, beautiful and powerful. Did I mention beautiful?

Anyway, after capturing a Fallen named Skolas for the Queen, I had been sent on a mission by the New Monarchy to investigate the "Lighthouse." A worshiping place and research station for the Cult of Osiris. I had met Osiris himself, once.

Ah, what am I blabbering on about. I'll tell you all about my past one of these days. But for now, I have to focus on what's happening right now. Something is on Mercury, and I have to figure out what it is and put a stop to it.

I realized my eyes were closed, and I had begun snoring.

"I'll wake you when Hideo calls for you." Ghost said.

"Thank you." I yawned.


	3. 3: Allies

Allies

* * *

"You're getting a message." Ghost informed me.

"From who?" I asked.

"The Reef."

"What is it?" I washed my face off in the sink before grabbing a towel and walking back into the bedroom.

"Petra Venj. She wants to meet with you about the Prison of Elders." Ghost informed me. Interesting. A few weeks ago, after training for months, I had finally killed Skolas. I say finally, but deep down I felt bad for him. I felt even worse after I was given a transcript by one of the Queen's Emissaries after I had killed him.

"The unfairness of it makes him want to roar. Why does everyone else have this patronage? Why do the Hive have gods and the Vex have sprawling time-bent minds and the Cabal have reinforcements? Why do the Awoken whisper to the stars and listen for the whisper back, the voices from the Jovians, the song in the dark? Why do the Guardians get the Great Machine's blessing, was it like that before the Whirlwind, were there Fallen heroes crowned in Ghosts who strode the battlefield fearless and full of Light?"

I remembered the words clearly.

"Why do they tell stories about reclaiming the lost glory of humanity, and no stories about the lost glory of Skolas' people, the once great Eliksni? Why can't the Fallen have that strength? But no, that strength is not for them, not for Skolas. Just this bleeding, sad pragmatism. Just dreg strength. Hanging on."

"The alternative is Skolas' strength, fighting together, raging against extinction. Look where that's gotten the species. The House of Devils' Prime is dead. The House of Winter's leadership devastated. The poor Exiles trying to claw out some security against the Hive. In the last few years the Fallen have lost so much—and everything is escalating around them. There are gods and powers converging on this system, old machines waking up, old bones whispering flatteries. They need a new way."

I breathed. I knew deep down that the Fallen weren't our enemies. They were scared, broken, and looking for something to grasp on to. Something to preserve their lives, their well being.

"What about the Prison of Elders?" I asked.

"There's been a perimeter breach." Ghost said slowly.

"Perimeter breach?" I said, surprised. "How?"

* * *

"We have no idea how it happened." Petra admitted. The two walked along the edge of Queen's throne room. Mara Sov herself was elsewhere, so there was hardly a noise to be heard aside from feet against metal and the spoken word.

"Do you think it was an inside job?" I asked. A warm, metallic smelling wind blew through my hair. I found it odd how the reef had wind, considering it was a mass of broken ships in an asteroid belt.

"Maybe. The Vex have traveled the farthest with the Fallen right behind them. We're sure the civilians are safe. But the Vestian Outpost is in danger."

"We need to stop them." Ghost buzzed over my right shoulder.

"How?" I asked.

"We have every available Emissary picking off the Fallen, Cabal and Hive as we speak." Petra assured me. For some reason, though, it gave me little assurance. She turned to me, and looked into my eyes with her single glowing blue one. "What can we do?"

"How much time do we have?" I asked.

"Four... Five days at most." she said.

"Give me three days. I'll have team by then." I said.

"About that..." Petra inhaled.

"What?"

"The Queen has assigned a new Emissary to assist you."

"How new are we talking?"

"She completed her training last week." the Awoken said.

"Last week?" Ghost buzzed.

"Is she good with a weapon?"

"Trust us, we wouldn't have assigned just anyone to help you. She's gifted with all forms of weapons. Knives, guns, hand to hand. She's amazing." Petra promised. I thought it over. Here I was wanting to form my own team, only to have Hideo send me Revenant and Petra send me a recruit straight out of training.

"How will I make sure she's safe? She's not a Guardian." I said. Petra looked slightly offended.

"Some of us don't need a giant ball's essence to be legendary warriors."

"Sorry, that's not what I-"

"It's fine." Petra laughed. "Come on, she's waiting."

* * *

We entered a circular room. Yellow lights shown down onto a steel room with many different kinds of furniture I had never seen before. Different Emissaries sat all around the room, there had to be at least twelve of them.

Petra spoke.

"Talia Zavala." she called. My eyes widened.

"Talia what?" I whispered to Petra.

"Oh, yes... Well, I suppose you should know-"

"Ma'am." said a voice. I turned back where I was facing to see... An Emissary. They all wore identical uniforms, so it was impossible to tell them apart.

"Uh, Talia, this is Sobek. He will be your commanding officer and mentor until we clear the breach in the Prison of Elders." Petra said.

"Yes ma'am." the Emissary said without hesitating. She turned to me, almost robotically. "Sir."

"Hi." I said. "Uh, Petra, a word?" I asked.

* * *

"She ran away from Earth when she was young." Petra explained.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Living in her Father's shadow? She's not a Guardian. I'm pretty sure she hates them."

"So you assign her to me?" I asked.

"Look, you're pretty well known now amongst the Tower and the Reef. Our enemies know your helmet, too. If you can prove to Talia that you're more than just a puppet for the City, you could change her mind." Petra explained.

"What if we need to go back to the City? What if she has to meet with Zavala?" I asked.

"Just keep the two separate. Look, I know you can do this."

I sighed. "I'll go get her, and get to my ship. We'll investigate the breach." I said.

"Thank you, Sobek. You have no idea how much you've done for us here. Thank you."

I nodded. I wasn't honored though. Mostly worried.

Worried about how the breach was caused, and worried for Talia Zavala's life should the Fallen or the Hive decide to send something monstrous our way.

And they would.


End file.
